Embrace Obscurity

Sheila Myers

Follow me on my path to writing a novel set in Maine with a focus on Rachel Carson's work. ​

Third floor of the Woods Inn Inlet, NY photo credit: Sheila Myers

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I've avoided discussions about the election this year due to temperament of some of the people who want to engage. I'm not into rage. I also try to put things into perspective and have faith that we all try our best.  I thought about the years after Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, the tumultuous years, between 1962-1964 when she died.  Besides the Cold War and threat of nuclear attack, John F. Kennedy was assassinated. When I was growing up, there was a newspaper in the desk of our house dated from the day he was killed with a blaring headline "Kennedy Assassinated". In my youth, I had no idea the impact that had on our country. I looked up letters Rachel Carson wrote to her friend Dorothy days following the assassination of John F. Kennedy and found some comfort. 

"In those first awful days after the assassination I found myself distraught on going to bed..." So she re-read her book Under the Sea Wind and found that the subject matter, the "timelessness" of the ocean put things into perspective. Things will go on. Time continues, and nature has a way of grounding us. Of humbling us.

During these winter months, I hope you too can find some peace by picking up a book and reading, or stepping out into nature and calming your soul. 

Source: Rachel Carson. Always, Rachel. Edited by Martha Freeman. Beacon Press, 1995.

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